to pull the string back fast enough. Cadderly got a shot with his crossbow, but the chimera banked and the explosive quarrel flew harmlessly wide.
The monster roared in protest as it passed without any attacks, and the friends on the ledge could see that both its dragon and goat heads flopped lifelessly in the wind. Ivan, clutching the leonine mane, howled with enjoyment as he attempted to steer the beast by tugging one way or the other.
"Jump free!" Danica cried to the dwarf as the mountain loomed before them. The young woman stepped off the creature as it passed the ledge, skipped down across the empty air (to Pikel's amazed cry of "Oo oi!" and Vander's incredulous stare) to join Cadderly and Shayleigh.
"Jump free!" Danica yelled again, this time with Shayleigh and Cadderly joining in.
The yellow-bearded dwarf didn't seem to hear them, and Danica prudently rushed back out from the ledge in case the beast headed out into the empty air once more. The chimera did bank against Ivan's stubborn pull and start back out, but this time, both Cadderly and Shayleigh were presented with perfect shots. Shayleigh's arrow dove deep into the chimera's torso, and Cadderly's quarrel got the beast on the wing, its explosive force shattering bone and sending the beast into a repeated barrel roll.
Ivan tugged and yanked frantically, looking for some place to safely land as the creature flopped about, turning back toward the towering mountain.
"Jump!" the companions pleaded with the dwarf.
"Snowbank!" Ivan yelled in high hopes, twisting the monster's head in line with a white pile jutting above the smooth slope of the mountain, just a dozen or so feet above the ledge. "Snowbank!"
Not quite - the inch of snow covering the jutting boulder did not, by any definition, constitute a snowbank.
"Boom," remarked a grimacing Pikel as the chimera and Ivan crashed heavily, the dwarf bouncing back, skidding and slipping until he came to a stop, amazingly on his feet on the ledge.
The crushed chimera thrashed about near the rock until Shayleigh's next arrow sank into the leonine head, ending its agony.
Ivan turned to regard Cadderly and the others, his pupils rolling about their sockets independently of each other. Somehow, Ivan still wore his deer-antlered helmet, and somehow, Shayleigh's splintered arrow had not been dislodged.
"Who knowed?" Ivan asked innocently, giving a lame attempt at shrugging his shoulders as he fell facedown on the path.
Test of Willpower
Cadderly and Shayleigh broke immediately for the stunned dwarf, but Danica rushed back to the ledge, grabbed Cadderly and spun him about, her lips crushing against his as she kissed him hard. She backed off suddenly, her features twisted with admiration and appreciation - and ecstacy.
Her breath came in excited gasps; her eyes darted wildly, from the open air beyond the ledge to her enchanted feet and to the man who had saved her life. "I want to do it again!" she blurted, fumbling over the words as though she couldn't help but say them,
Cadderly seemed perplexed, until he realized that his love had just walked on air. What an incredible experience that must have been! He stared at Danica for a long moment Then, remembering Ivan's situation, he looked to Pikel, who was happily munching on his roasted mutton once more (apparently, Ivan was not too badly injured), and looked to the rock where Ivan and the chimera had abruptly ended their wild ride. All of this apparent insanity in the midst of a desperate plan, the success of which could well determine the very existence of the peoples of the region.
And Danica's sparkling brown eyes, so full of admiration, told Cadderly something more. He was coming to the forefront of it all, inevitably taking up the lead in this crusade. He had grabbed at this responsibility - fully when he had bent Dean Thobicus's mind - but now, as the true weight of that responsibility became clearer to him, he was worried. Always before, Cadderly had depended on his powerful friends. He pointed the way, and they, through stealth and sword, facilitated the plans. Now, though, judging from the look in Danica's eyes, Cadderly's burden had increased. His mounting magical powers had become the group's primary weapon.
Cadderly would not shy away from his new role, would fight on with all his heart and all his strength. But he wondered if he could live up to his friends' expectations, if he could continue to keep Danica's eyes sparkling.
It was all too much for the burdened young priest What began